Joe Ciccarella

Joseph Michael Ciccarella

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.

• School Loyola Marymount University
• High School Matei Dei High School

• Born December 29, 1969 in Huntington Beach, CA USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Joe Ciccarella played for Team USA and later made it to AAA.

Ciccarella was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth round of the 1988 amateur draft, one round before Mickey Morandini, but opted for college. He was on Team USA for the 1990 Goodwill Games. He was the starting first baseman for the US in the 1990 Baseball World Cup, batting .303/.368/.636 with three homers, nine runs and 13 RBI in nine games, fielding .978. He tied Brent Gates and Chris Gomez for the team lead in homers and led them in RBI (two ahead of Gates and Gomez). He tied for 5th in the Cup in dingers.

As a junior, he hit .435 and slugged .778, homering 13 times and stealing 19 bases. He was 13th in NCAA Division I in average (between Phil Geisler and Kevin Bellomo) and tied for 14th with 24 doubles. He won West Coast Conference Player of the Year. Baseball America named him second-team All-American at first base, behind David McCarty, with Eduardo Pérez at #3.

The Boston Red Sox took him in the fourth round of the 1991 amateur draft, one pick after Erik Hiljus. He hit .232/.364/.263 in 18 games for the Winter Haven Red Sox and .304/.469/.522 in 8 games for the GCL Red Sox. Boston then moved him to the mound for 1992 and he was 2-1 with 12 saves and a 2.66 ERA for Winter Haven in 1992, fanning 45 but walking 26 in 40 2/3 IP. He missed the Florida State League top-ten in saves by one and was fifth in the BoSox chain.

In 1993, he was with the New Britain Red Sox (0-4, 15 Sv, 4.22) and Pawtucket Red Sox (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 2.21 WHIP in 12 G). He was 7th in the Eastern League in saves, between Tom Schwarber and Toby Borland. Among Red Sox minor leaguers, only Cory Bailey had more saves. Returning to New Britain and being used as a starter and reliever in 1994, he was 6-6 with a 4.20 ERA.

Joe split 1995 between Pawtucket (0-1, 3.86 in 11 G) and the Trenton Thunder (2-1, 2.73 in 22 G). The Chicago Cubs took him in the minor league portion of the 1995 Rule V Draft. He only pitched one game for the 1996 Orlando Cubs (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 R) to end his career. He had gone 10-14 with 27 saves and a 3.82 ERA in 145 games as a pro, while hitting .246/.387/.312.